Sinister Affairs
by Hawk
Summary: As Hawk returns to his own past, he realizes that he has to make a few things different in order to prevent multiple disasters from happening all over again. In order to do so, he has to go behind the back of the X-men and betray their trust in him...


Hawk - Sinister Affairs

# Sinister Affairs

### Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson

  
  
  
This just about sums it all up:  
A Hawk just returned to his own past realize that he has to make a few changes in order to prevent multiple disasters from happening all over again. In order to do so, he has to go behind the back of the X-men and betray their trust in him...  
  
***** Disclaimer *****  
You know the drill... Mumble, mumble not mine, mumble mumble belongs to DC, Marvel, Rysher, White Wolf or whatever. I'm just borrowing. Erik, Niklas and the fairies are mine though, all mine. Use without permission and I'll yank your brain out through your rectum, replace your vocal cords with Fran Dretchers, tear your skin off and then I'll think of something that'll *really* hurt as an encore.  
  
Feedback, questions and corrections accepted at:  
hawk@telia.com or ICQ:21771860  
Other stories and updates found in Hawk's Galaxy at:  
http://hawksgalaxy.com  
***** Stop reading this shit and move along to the rest *****  
  
"speech"  
*emphasis/shouts*  
/thoughts/  
*/telepathy/*  
~translation~  
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+  
  
  


* * *

  
Niklas woke up with a startled grunt and opened his eyes, then mentally groaned as he realized that he didn't have the bed to himself any longer. He glanced at the window and confirmed his initial suspicion, it was open. One of the darned fairies must have opened it with magic, he should have realized that they might try something like that. On the other hand, they probably hadn't even bothered trying the door, only to discover that it was locked. They'd probably just flew straight to the window from wherever they had been, opened it and then slipped inside.  
  
What he found most startling of all was that they hadn't woken him up as they climbed into bed with him. They would have had to exercise an amount of caution that he hadn't thought them capable of. Although with their powers, they probably could have kept him asleep straight through a nuclear war. He gently extracted himself from Sipi, who'd draped one leg over his two and rested her right hand on his chest. It took him almost five minutes, but he managed to do so without waking her up. But touching her had given him a quite impressive hardon, their magical energies had interacted, tightening the magical flows within each other's bodies. Well, his body anyway. He wasn't quite sure if the same was true for fairies, but he suspected that it might. Although he had no idea if the erratic creatures paid any heed to it, or if their species even had any sort of sexual urges.  
  
Once free from the distracting touch of a magically charged fairy, he started to contemplate how he would go about removing himself from the bed without waking anyone up. He looked to his right where Sipi was lying on her stomach in the middle of the bed and at Cipi lying further away. Then he looked to his left and Tipi who was lying flat on her stomach, drooling on the pillow. To his right was impossible, to his left was almost as bad, but possibly doable.  
  
He slowly rolled over, put his right arm and right leg over the exquisite body, then started moving over her after taking a fortifying breath of air. He was positioned right above her when her wings twitched. The fairies had somehow managed to fold the wings until they weren't sticking out more then thirty or so centimeters away from their shoulders, but that was enough.  
  
One velvety textured extremity flicked across his nose and he flinched, instinctively pulling his head back and up, forgetting one very important thing. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. As his head went up and back, his middle area went down and forward.  
  
"Mghlf." Tipi grunted in her sleep as his erection brushed against her firm ass, but she didn't otherwise react in any way whatsoever.  
  
Niklas slowly and very carefully pushed away from her, then put his right foot down onto the floor and very quickly moved his left foot over there as well. Once he had both feet on the floor, it was a breeze to get into an upright position and move away from the bed. He swallowed and allowed himself to relax slightly, the worst was now over. He leaned over the bed and pulled the cover straight again, tucking the fairies in.  
  
With that out of the way, he tiptoed towards the closet and his large collection of clothes. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he looked at clothes with logos from the various companies and organizations he'd founded. They were all more or less alike, black or dark blue T-shirts, black or dark blue chinos and a few white T-shirts. At one end of the row, he had three suits for more formal occasions.  
  
The assortment left a little to wish for, but since the clothes he wore tended to get trashed on a fairly regular basis, it'd take too darn much time to keep the closet stocked with more original items. He reached for one of the black T-shirts and shrugged as he saw that the one he'd gotten his hands on was one with a blood red HNP logo on the chest. The back featured the corpse of a poacher, dripping blood down onto another HNP logo. The standard policy of Hawk's Nature Preserves to shoot poachers on sight had caused a whole lot of legal problems and violent protests from organizations like Amnesty International. But, it did wonders for the animals in those preserves. He hadn't lost a single animal to hunters for months now and he wouldn't let anything get in the way of that.  
  
The trousers he picked out at random turned out to be a pair with the HawkTech logo on the left back pocket, stating that HawkTech provided what the reader needed. He glanced at the other closet, the one that contained his working clothes. That one contained only two items of clothing. Unmarked black t-shirts and unmarked black trousers. It wasn't a very good idea to wear the ones with the company logo while he was out with the others, not if he wanted to keep the fact that he was a mutant from the public eye. He had a few ski masks as well, but he couldn't bring himself to wear them since they made him feel silly.  
  
Although he supposed that he would have to start wearing them. Since he was going to spend more time here in America, he'd no doubt wind up doing more business and become more known then he already was. As it was, he was relatively unknown at the moment. The major businessmen would know him on sight, the nerds would instantly recognize him and the gold-diggers would be able to pick him out of a police lineup. But not many among the general public would know who he was if they bumped into him on the streets. Previous experiences had shown that many did recognize his face, but couldn't put a name to it.  
  
He glanced at the weapon cabinets, but decided to leave the hardware behind for now. He almost felt naked without at least one gun on his person, but figured that if he couldn't let go of his paranoid delusions while he was in the mansion, he might just as well kill himself. He was surrounded by some of the most powerful heroes on the planet, one gun wouldn't make much of a difference if all hell were to break loose. He got dressed and then headed for the door, unlocking it as quietly as possible before he carefully opened it.  
  
"Morning, Big N. Bye, Big N." Robert exclaimed cheerfully as he walked past in the corridor, causing the fairies to stir and Niklas to groan.  
  
"Bring us breakfast." Tipi muttered from the bed, not bothering to raise her head from the pillow she'd half-buried her face in.  
  
"Fucking overly cheerful icicle..." Niklas grumbled to himself, but resigned himself to his fate. Despite his tough attitude and sometimes brutal behavior, he really was a softie at heart. He knew that he wouldn't be able to prevent himself from bringing the fairies something to eat.  
  
"N'stop thinkin' dirty thoughts 'bout me." Tipi added. "It's disgustin'."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever." he muttered and carefully closed the door behind himself, not wishing to disturb the other two fairies that'd apparently managed to stay asleep. He'd taken several steps before he realized that he hadn't thought any dirty thoughts about Tipi since he'd left the bed. He'd had a few about Jubilee, but none about Tipi. He raised an eyebrow, had the little bugger been awake when he got out of bed? He shook his head in bewilderment, but decided to ignore it. He had bigger fish to fry and larger worries then why Tipi hadn't let him know she was awake, so he could have gotten out of bed without being so overly cautious.  
  
Speaking of cautious, it really was time to announce his presence to the resident Elder Vampire of Westchester, the Methuselah Cedric Conklin. He made a face, but resigned himself to his fate. He'd enjoy a long and relaxing breakfast, feed the fairies and then take a stroll through Salem to Cedric's mansion.  
  


* * *

  
He smiled faintly as he walked up the driveway to the old mansion, covertly glancing at the animals running freely on the grounds. He saw several dogs, a few cats were lying around and he even thought he saw a chimp peek out from the foliage at one time. If it weren't for the fact that his sensitivity field picked up on the fact that they were Ghouls, he might have believed that Cedric was just fond of animals. But in reality, he'd gotten himself a minor army of unobtrusive guards by Ghouling innocent animals to watch over his mansion.  
  
Niklas could also feel human Ghouls and his enhanced senses easily helped him spot them. Cedric had formerly human guards as well, who were hidden from plain sight. The security measures might seem a bit over the edge, but the old paranoid vampire hadn't survived for all this time by being careless. As far as Niklas knew, the old bugger had been 'alive' since the Dark Age.  
  
Niklas ignored all the watchful eyes and headed straight for the front door, where he knocked and waited in silence until it was finally opened by a graying butler whom actually appeared to be human.  
  
"Yes?" the butler asked, his voice completely devoid of any emotion or interest.  
  
"Could you tell Cedric that I'd like to have a word with him?" Niklas asked.  
  
"May I ask why?" the butler asked.  
  
"Certainly." Niklas replied and smiled faintly. "Tell him that we're kindred spirits and I'd like to introduce myself." he added, feeling slightly pleased with himself. He hadn't given much thought to how he was going to handle this and he had very little experience in dealing with others of his kind, but that little piece of spur-of-the-moment inspiration seemed eminently suiting to his rather inexperienced ears.  
  
"Of course, sir. Wait here." the butler said and then slammed the door shut, surprising the hell out of Niklas who jumped back from it. He merely shrugged and waited, he guessed the butler had been instructed to not let strangers into the house. If he were a little more paranoid then he was, he might have done something similar. He didn't have to wait for very long though, because the butler returned before a minute had passed and opened the door.  
  
"Hi again." Niklas said and smiled merrily, determined to not let the rude behavior affect him at all. At least not openly.  
  
"Hello, sir." the butler greeted him with the dry tone he'd used before. "You may enter. Follow me." he added and headed into the mansion, apparently expecting Niklas to follow him. He did so and slammed the door shut on his way, smirking slightly in satisfaction as the butler jumped in surprise at the sudden noise. /Fair is fair, an eye for an eye.../ Niklas thought and tried to get his face back under control, it wouldn't do to smirk like a madman when he first met Cedric. "Sir Cedric is waiting for you." the butler announced at a door that he held open for Niklas who merely nodded and passed through.  
  
Once inside, he found himself in Cedric's office and faced the old vampire, which was sitting behind an enormous desk filled with telephones and papers. He bowed slightly for the old geezer, but quickly straightened up and assumed a neutral look.  
  
"Yes?" Cedric asked, glancing down at his papers, obviously anxious to get back to work. "You wanted to see me?"  
  
"Yes. I just thought I'd let you know that I'm staying at Xaviers, so you wouldn't completely freak when you found out that there's another Kindred around." Niklas said. "I won't be feeding around here or otherwise step on your toes, but I'll be around." he added.  
  
"What is your name and lineage?" Cedric asked, now slightly more interested and able to keep his mind off the paperwork on his desk.  
  
"Niklas Jonsson of Clan Ventrue, Childe of Gerald Smythe, Childe of Francesca DeLorean, Childe of Jean McCormack, Childe of Gawain Longsword, Childe of Peter Valenko, Childe of Baard, Childe of Urst, Childe of Ventrue, Childe of Enoch, Childe of Caine." Niklas replied without hesitation.  
  
"Urst?" Cedric asked, showing even more of an interest then before. Something Niklas knew depended on the fact that Cedrics own sire was Urst. He wasn't entirely sure about the lineage he'd just given since Gerald hadn't been able to verify much of it. The only thing Gerald had been certain of had been that his grandsire was Jean McCormack since Gerald had actually met him. But Niklas had no other choice then to assume that the lineage was correct, because just going back to Jean McCormack wasn't anywhere near fancy enough for introducing himself to a Methuselah of Clan Ventrue.  
  
Besides, if there were any mistakes in the lineage, Cedric might be able to help him correct it. The ancient Kindred knew a lot about the Clan and probably had a somewhat accurately 'family' tree stashed away somewhere. With a little luck, Cedric might just be willing to part with some information without asking too much in return for it. Although Niklas knew perfectly well that it wasn't very probable, Cedric would without a doubt ask for a great deal for any little scrap of information he conceded to part with.  
  
"Yes, Urst the Usurper." Niklas replied, adding a very vital part of information, revealing that he was aware of the fact that Urst had once turned against Ventrue, attempting to gain the power of his own Antediluvian Sire. Cedric didn't react to this, he merely nodded sagely and kept the neutral expression on his face.  
  
"How convenient." Cedric said after a few silent moments of contemplation. "Seeing as how Gerald is missing at the moment, having vanished under mysterious circumstances. Then there's also the added fact that Gawain and Baard are the only ones of your lineage still around. Gawain as the Ventrue Primogen in Amsterdam and Baard who's been in Torpor for the last fifty years." Cedric revealed and Niklas tried to act unaffected by what he heard. He had no idea of what the rest of his lineage had been up to. Gerald had not been aware of their doings, except that Francesca had spent the last twelve years in Detroit and that Jean had been a Harpy in Brussels.  
  
It was just dumb luck that Gerald had known about Urst and his attempt to commit the Amaranth on Ventrue, but Niklas was certainly glad that he had. Without that particular piece of little known information, Cedric might have been even more suspicious then he apparently already was. That incident was a closely guarded secret among the Ventrue and only very few outside of Ursts own lineage would know about it. Since there really was nothing he could say to Cedric's comments, he didn't. He just shrugged and kept his oversized mouth shut.  
  
"Gerald didn't have permission to Embrace anyone." Cedric suddenly stated. "Granted, there hasn't been anyone around to really enforce the Traditions in New York lately, but he still lacked that permission." he added. "You probably won't be destroyed simply for existing, but I think Prince Watson would like to have a word with Gerald about this."  
  
"Gerald is dead, he died while trying to feed off me." Niklas revealed after a few moments when he tried to decide weather to lie or tell the truth. "He went for my neck and my mutant power kicked in. He turned to dust and I gained all his memories, becoming Kindred in the process."  
  
"You're a mutant?" Cedric inquired with a slightly stunned expression on his face. "Mutant and Kindred?" he added incredulously.  
  
"Yes, I'm a mutant. Why did you think I was staying at Xaviers?" Niklas replied, trying to keep the sarcastic tone out of his voice. It wouldn't do to be disrespectful to Cedric, not now.  
  
"What exactly is your power?" Cedric asked.  
  
"That is on a need to know basis and at the moment, you don't have to know." Niklas replied after a few silent seconds. The mere fact that he was having a conversation with a Methuselah brought about the need for more caution then he usually displayed.  
  
"Then you may leave." Cedric stated and glanced down at his desk again, obviously eager to get back to whatever he had been doing before he was disturbed.  
  
"Hank have gotten some assistance, Doctor Cecilia Reyes have joined him in the Legacy research conducted at the mansion." Niklas said, not allowing the far older Kindred to visibly intimidate him. "Doctor Moira MacTaggart will also be along shortly. Since I was going here anyway, Hank asked me to invite you to join them. Your expertise would be a welcome addition to the effort of finding a cure. They're already well on the way towards a vaccine, but finding a cure is going to be significantly harder."  
  
"Doctor Reyes? Never heard of her." he snorted in reply. "I'm busy now, perhaps in a month or two." Cedric added loftily.  
  
"Your knowledge is essential. Without it, the development of the vaccine could be stalled for months." Niklas protested.  
  
"So be it." Cedric said with a dismissive tone of voice.  
  
"I'm guessing that you're still wondering what my power is?" Niklas asked, still with a neutral tone in his voice, not giving anything of the rage he felt away to the older Cainite. "Well. My power is the ability to copy the minds, bodies and powers of others. If you don't personally put in a few appearances, I'll be able to do it for you." he continued, his face expressionless and his voice not giving anything away.  
  
"I forbid you to do such a thing!" Cedric protested.  
  
"You can't." Niklas said. "My power doesn't require your cooperation. You could fight as much as you want, but you still wouldn't be able to stop me." he continued. "But I would really prefer if you went on your own, because it's discomforting to absorb the memories of someone who has been around for a few centuries." he added. "But if you don't, I won't have a choice. Your knowledge is required and vital to the success of this research. One way or another, I'll make sure that it's available."  
  
"I'll make a deal with you, Stripling." Cedric said. "If you don't copy me, I'll make one appearance a week." he offered.  
  
"How long an appearance?" Niklas asked suspiciously and well aware that Cedric with the way he had phrased the offer meant that he could show up at the mansion, say 'Hi' and then leave, still keeping his end of the deal.  
  
"Four hours." Cedric replied after a few moments.  
  
"Three times a week, for at least six hours per visit." Niklas countered.  
  
"Once a week, six hours." Cedric retorted.  
  
"This is the Legacy we're talking about. Three times, five hours." Niklas offered with a sigh.  
  
"It's my time we're talking about." Cedric retorted. "Two times, four hours."  
  
"Three, five." Niklas insisted.  
  
"I'm not going to waste fifteen hours a week on this." Cedric protested.  
  
"If you leave five minutes early once a week, I won't hold it against you." Niklas said with a slight grin.  
  
"Two times, six hours." Cedric said between clenched teeth.  
  
"Deal." Niklas said and held his right hand out to Cedric who merely glared at the younger man. "Well, that went well." Niklas said with a bemused tone in his voice as he pulled his hand back. "By the way, do you have a number that you can be reached at? It might come in handy from time to time."  
  
"555-76523" Cedric answered. "You?" he asked after a split second of what almost seemed to be hesitation.  
  
"555-dhawk" Niklas replied. "Ever need a favor, just holler." he added, certain that there wasn't a chance in hell that Cedric would ever demean himself by asking him for a favor.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind." Cedric replied with a dry tone of voice. "Now, you may leave." he added.  
  
"Of course. See you soon." he said and got up, heading for the door with a big smile on his lips. Things had gone better then expected and he hadn't had to bare his fangs even once. Which was probably a good thing since the ancient Methuselah powermonger probably would be able to tear him apart just by looking at him. He'd actually kept his promise and hadn't added Cedric to his growing collection of copied signatures. Not because he actually felt compelled to keep his word to such a one as Cedric Conklin, but because it wouldn't be a very pleasant experience to do so.  
  
It was always harder to copy the minds of old people and Cedric was truly ancient, so it'd be a real chore to take it in. It wasn't as tough as when he used Rogue's power to 'Diablerize' vampires by touch, but having to cram several centuries' worth of memories into his skull in mere seconds was still a very unpleasant experience.   
  


* * *

  
"Hey. What did they break?" Niklas asked as he walked in through the kitchen entrance. Scott and Jean looked up from what looked like a quick lunch and raised questioning eyebrows at him.  
  
"Who broke what?" Jean asked, a slightly confused but somewhat amused look on her face.  
  
"The fairies. What did they break while I was gone?" Niklas clarified.  
  
"Nothing as far as I know." Scott replied. "Did they tell you they were going to break something?" he asked.  
  
"No, I just assumed that they would have caused at least one disaster while I was gone." Niklas replied with a shrug and looked at his wristwatch. "Three hours without a disaster, amazing." he said and grinned. "If they keep this track record up, I might actually dare to head out for a business meeting in the afternoon." he added. "But I'd better ask Ororo first, do you know where she is?"  
  
"Joyriding." Scott replied. "There's nothing on the horizon though. If something unexpected turns up, I'll have her give you a call." he added.  
  
"Great. Thanks, Scott." Niklas said gratefully as he walked out of the kitchen, walking through the mansion on the way to his room. What he had planned probably would take longer then just the afternoon, he probably would be absent for at least twelve or fifteen hours. First he'd had to scout around some, make sure that he still remembered everything correctly. Then he'd have to wait for some backup to arrive, independent backup with no connection whatsoever to the X-men and then do the actual deed. /At least twelve hours.../ he thought to himself as he went everything over in his mind.  
  
He'd just pick a few things up from his room, then leave for Seattle. He had been meaning to tell the X-men about everything, but he had been keeping a few things to himself. This was one of them, this was personal and he wasn't going to allow himself to be held back by any softhearted X-men who wouldn't be able to bring themselves to kill. He felt like snarling, so he put all nasty thoughts out of his mind and tried to focus on happier matters. He couldn't allow himself to slip until he was well away from the mansion and any telepaths who might pick up on what he was planning to do.  
  
Niklas walked into his room and chuckled to himself as he saw the mess the fairies had made out of things. His bed was unmade, the pillows were scattered across the room and the dirty cutlery from the breakfast he'd brought the fairies were lying on the floor. He tossed the pillows back onto the bed, put the cutlery on the tray and left it by the door for later. The window was open, so he assumed that the fairies were out exploring the woods around the mansion, something they seemed perfectly content to amuse themselves with until judgement day.  
  
That was perfectly fine with Niklas, since every hour they spent away from the mansion meant that they weren't causing some sort of domestic disaster that he would be held accountable for. If they somehow managed to uproot a tree or scare the shit out of some hiker in the woods, the X-men wouldn't easily find out about it and even if they did, it might be possible to explain it all away or blame on some weird phenomenon.  
  
He brought out one of the armored suitcases, opened it and tossed it onto the bed. Then he started filling it with the stuff he would need later. For the scouting business, what he was wearing right now would do. But for the more serious matters later, he would have to be better prepared. He frowned as he finished packing, he couldn't very well drag the suitcase around while he scouted. Fortunately, Hawk Inc had permanent reservations for a suite at a hotel in Seattle. Nobody used it at the moment and wouldn't for another three days, that would be a perfect place to set up his base of operations.  
  
He closed the suitcase, picked it up, morphed into Illyana and then stepped into one of her shimmering portals. He emerged in the gray wasteland that was Limbo, but he didn't really take notice of it before he created another disc that when he walked through took him to that hotel room in Seattle. He hid the suitcase underneath the bed, hung the 'Do not disturb' sign on the doors handle and then shapeshifted into a guy he'd just happened to walk by when he was on his way back from Cedric.  
  
Andrew Irwing was thirty-two years old, recently divorced and had two daughters he only got to see on the weekends. He drove the garbage truck in Salem Center, drank a little too much on occasion and liked to bet on horses. But the best thing about him was that he didn't have a single mutated gene in his entire body, not a speck of Kindred blood in his veins or anything else suspicious. That would make him perfect to scout the area Niklas intended to check out, anything else might show up on some odd sensors guarding the underground complex he would have to visit once the scouting was completed.  
  
Niklas/Andrew smirked, then walked out of the room and headed for the elevators. After a brief stop to rent a car or possibly a motorcycle, he would drive out of town and take a look around a horrible place that had brought him nothing but grief, angst, pain and regrets.  
  


* * *

  
Niklas sighed and accepted the call that had disturbed his preparations. He activated the microphone that had been surgically implanted into his jaw, turned the speaker in his right ear on and patched the call through onto them.  
  
"The one and only." he said with a slight smile, then double-checked the safety on a magnetic mine that he slid into a sheath on his back.  
  
+Niklas? Where are you?+ Ororo Munroe asked in the other end.  
  
"Seattle." he replied and looked out from his window, glancing at the Space Needle before he returned his attention to the arsenal in front of him. He checked five other mines, then slid them into five other sheaths on his back.  
  
+Oh.+ she said, then waited a few seconds for an extended explanation she never got. +Creed is campaigning in Philadelphia and have whipped the followers at his rally into frenzy, we're going there to make sure that it doesn't get out of hand. Will you be able to make it?+ she asked.  
  
"Do you need me?" he asked and placed two Beretta 92F's into holsters underneath his left and right armpit. Then he slid two Mac-10 SMG's into two additional holsters placed underneath the other two holsters.  
  
+We shouldn't, but there's no way to tell in advance. You know that as well as I do.+ she berated him and he smiled.  
  
"I guess." he replied, then slung the backpack over his shoulders and swallowed nervously. It wasn't every day that he carried around enough high explosives to bring down a skyscraper. "If you do need me, have Psylocke or Jean buzz me. I'll be there within seconds." he said and placed a Walther PPK with attached silencer in his right hip-holster, then another one in his left. He fastened two bands with three grenades attached to them onto his shoulder holsters. Then he looked around himself and shrugged, that should be enough for what he had in mind. He realized that he hadn't heard anything from Ororo for a few moments and frowned, wondering what she was up to. "Still there?" he asked uncertainly, wondering if she had hung up on him.  
  
+Yes.+ she replied instantly. +All right, we'll go off on our own. But I'll expect a full report later. I can't recall that you've alerted us to any previous plans or business meeting today.+  
  
"I know." he admitted. "This isn't anything like that. I know that none of you, except possibly Remy, Logan and Bishop would approve of what I'm about to do. So, I decided to just go ahead and do it anyway, then deal with your complaints later."  
  
+Niklas, I think you'd better let me know what you're about to do.+ Ororo replied sternly in the other end.  
  
"Sorry, Ororo." he said and sighed. "I have backup and if we do run into something I can't handle, I can always teleport us out of it. But I have to do this. It's just as necessary as it was to save Illyana and get Rachel back. Possibly even more necessary then saving both of them were. You'll have to take my word for it and when it's all over, you will get a full report, an explanation of why I thought it was necessary and if you guys want me to leave the X-men because of it..." he said and swallowed nervously. "I'll do it." he finished and waited for a comment or order from Ororo.  
  
+Tell me what you're going to do.+ she ordered and he briefly contemplated actually telling her. The weather-controlling mutant was a lot tougher then she looked, she might be able to follow his reasoning and agree with it. But he'd better not take any chances.  
  
"No, you might be needed at the meeting, the frenzied crowd could do anything. If I tell you where I'm going, you'll never get to the rally because you'll be heading after me." he responded. "It's necessary, trust me. I'll see you later this evening and answer all your questions then."  
  
+Is what you're going to do dangerous? At least tell me that!+ she demanded.  
  
"Ororo, waking up in the mornings is dangerous." he replied evasively. "Going to sleep in the evenings is dangerous. *Life* is dangerous." he added cynically. "This is a little more dangerous then having breakfast, but not as dangerous as setting up shop on the suns burning surface."  
  
+Way to go, that really reassured me.+ Ororo snapped at him in the other end.  
  
"It's dangerous, but I can handle it." he clarified. "It won't be much worse then trying to make sure that a mob of people whipped up into a frenzy against mutants doesn't try something illegal. I'll be in no more danger then the rest of you will be at that rally."  
  
+All right, this conversation is not getting us anywhere fast.+ Ororo said. +Be careful.+ she advised him. +I want that report as soon as you're back and not a minute later.+ she added.  
  
"Sure thing, chief." he replied. "Take care at that rally, Ororo." he added and made a kissing noise. "See ya."  
  
+Defenetively.+ she replied, then hung up on him. He shrugged, disconnected and reached for the silenced MP5 he was going to use for the initial assault. The compact weapon lacked the range he would have gained by using a full-length assault rifle, but a full-length weapon would have been in his way down in the actual complex. Besides, with the tight quarters below ground, range probably wouldn't be an issue.  
  
He only had faint recollections to go on once he got down there, but he did recall that some of the corridors he would have to pass were pretty tight and crossed by other corridors. He couldn't use anything longer then a compact SMG down there. Even the MP5 was stretching it, he'd probably have to discard that in favor of the Mac-10's while he was below ground.  
  
The worst thing was that his hardware wouldn't do much good against some of the people he was likely to meet down there. But, with a little luck, he could slip down there unnoticed, do his stuff and then get the hell out of there, with none the wiser. The chances of that happening were pretty slim though. His personal motto had always been 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.', so even though he hoped for an easy in-out mission, he prepared for a messy slaughter.  
  
The opponents he couldn't use the hardware against, he'd have to deal with in some other way. But he wasn't worried for himself, what worried him was his backup. He'd asked Erik to provide him with a small team of skilled professionals for a raid/assault mission. It had cost him a pretty penny and indebted him even more to his megalomaniac cousin, but he was well aware of the fact that he probably would need help before the day was over.  
  
He was going up against ruthless murderers, if he wanted to beat them, he was going to need the help of other ruthless murderers. Erik had looked through his records and sent five of his employees to Seattle. They were armed, well trained and had previous experience with similar missions. One of them also had encountered some of the opponents before, something that would be of a tremendous help if they were going to survive.  
  
He had the advantage of being half dead already, being a cybernetically enhanced half-vampire mutant and blessed with a synthetic healing factor. The members of the backup team were ordinary humans, well trained and extremely well equipped, but still just humans. It was possible that they had healing factors as well, possibly even cybernetic enhancements. But Erik hadn't revealed anything about them, except that they knew what they were doing and that Niklas wouldn't have to worry about them.  
  
He shrugged, Erik was one of the best in the world at these kinds of situations. If he said that Niklas didn't have to worry about the team, he wouldn't. He had himself to worry about, since he was going to go in first and clear the entrance for the others.  
  


* * *

  
"Sabretooth!" Niklas exclaimed in surprise and jumped back, only barely managing to avoid having a handful of claws raking through his throat. He countered, slashing at the eyes of his feral opponent with a knife, but missed as Creed yanked his head back in the nick of time. A second slash at the chest missed as well, but a counter-strike from Victor 'Sabretooth' Creed at Niklas own chest didn't miss, even if he managed to pull back enough for it to only cause cosmetical damage.  
  
"You ruined my shirt!" Niklas exclaimed after pulling back some more, staring in mock anger at the ruined article of clothing. "Didn't your mother ever tell you to play nice with the other kids?" he asked and Sabretooth smirked at him.  
  
"A comedian. How original..." he drawled sarcastically, then leapt into action, slashing at Niklas throat and waist. Niklas avoided the swift assault and slammed the heel of his right foot at Creed's ribcage. It was a move that he'd spent thirty minutes perfecting against Creed simulations in the Danger room. Although the sudden pain in his legs revealed that the real thing was more of a match then the simulations were.  
  
Niklas hissed as he put some weight on that leg again, it appeared as if Creed had raked his claws over Niklas calf. There was no major damage done, but he was bleeding and it stung like hell. But he took some satisfaction in the fact that Creed now was hunched over and now looked more cautious then he had before.  
  
"Not bad." Creed commented. "Practiced with the runt, have you?"  
  
"I only practice for the tough opponents." Niklas replied. "Tiny little kittens like yourself isn't exactly something that I need to be practicing to prepare myself for."  
  
Victor snarled at the taunt, then leaped at Niklas again, slashing high as Niklas ducked and launched a powerful uppercut at Creed's chest, putting all his considerable might behind it. All good that did him was cause Sabretooth to emit a surprised 'Ohmpf' and a grunt when he landed, the huge mutant didn't seem otherwise concerned about a punch that would have killed an ordinary human.  
  
Niklas shook his head and put his left hand behind his back, hiding his doings from the feral mutant in front of him. He grinned impishly and chuckled, trying to hide the fear that he felt. He'd sparred against Logan often enough and the two of them were fairly evenly matched, the same would probably be true of Sabretooth. But then again, when he fought against Logan, he rarely cheated, like he planned to do now.  
  
"I don't suppose you feel like giving up?" he asked. "I mean, a girly wimp such as yourself must be scared shitless by now, when you've probably realized that you don't stand a chance." Niklas added, taking any chance he could get to taunt his opponent, make him more enraged and more careless as a result of that rage.  
  
"I'd give you the same opportunity, but unfortunately for you, I don't do mercy." Creed replied, then rushed at Niklas, his claws heading straight in for the kill. Niklas waited calmly, then sidestepped and moved around Creed with inhuman speed. He rammed his left hand down into the back of Victor's neck, then pulled it out and tripped his opponent with a skillfully placed leg. Then he turned around and ran back the way he'd come from, leaping forward and throwing himself onto the floor after just two seconds of frantic running.  
  
+KAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM+  
  
He got up, a little dizzy from the shockwave and looked back. The grenade that he'd shoved into Sabretooth's yellow jumpsuit had been too much for his feral opponent. Creed was still moving, but whimpering in pain and unable to do anything else then crawl with unsteady, shaky motions. Niklas sighed, hefted his knife and approached his crippled foe. He grabbed his opponent by the hair on the back of his head, slit his throat and then shoved the knife into his left ear, leaving it there.  
  
"You should have kept getting in Logans way, Creed. He doesn't cheat." Niklas commented and kept on walking, the way down should be somewhere nearby. But chances were that all the noise had alerted Mister Sinister about his presence. He hadn't been counting on having to use the heavy equipment just yet, but Creed probably wasn't too interested in trying to fight off some of the nastiest computer viruses ever created. He'd apparently been much more interested in the reason why those viruses had shown up and decided to patrol the area.  
  
Niklas kept on searching, this was yet another thing that was different about this timeline he'd wound up in. In the one he'd originally came from, the hatch had been out in the open. This time, it was inside the main building of an abandoned farm. Although if a little journey into Sinisters computers hadn't provided Niklas with the correct location, he never would have come here to look. He would just have passed everything by, never noticing the decrepit farm because he had been looking for an empty field.  
  
Niklas clapped his hands together when he found the hatch, then he sent the 'go ahead' order along with a hasty sketch of the building and the way to the hatch. He took a deep breath, then slipped down into Sinisters underground complex, using a key-code stolen from Creeds memory to disable the alarms on the hatch. He left it open, Obfuscated himself to merge with the shadows down below and then followed the route he faintly recalled taking the last time. Even if he'd been going in the other direction back then.  
  
The blueprint he'd gotten off Sinisters computers weren't doing him much good, because there had apparently been modifications. The blueprints didn't match up to reality from time to time, Niklas wasn't sure if that depended on later modifications or if different blueprints had been used during the actual building of this complex. He hadn't had much time to look around, since the X-men had been alerted to his whereabouts, he didn't want to dawdle, just in case they came by to check on him.  
  
He heard approaching footsteps and stopped, relying on his vampiric powers to remain unseen. He grinned ferally as he saw Scalphunter and Harpoon walking against him, probably heading for the hatch to find out what the racket above was all about. He took out two spikes from the strap around his right leg and waited until the two of them had passed him. Then he threw the two spikes at the pair of Marauders walking on with their backs against him.  
  
The spikes went in smoothly at the base of their necks and Niklas enhanced hearing picked up on the fact that both of them worked, pumping their deadly contents into the two now dying men. Scalphunter never even had time to utter a word, he just stiffened and toppled forward. Harpoon spun around and the harpoon he was holding glowed for a brief moment before it went out again, then he moaned and collapsed in a motionless pile on the floor.  
  
Erik hadn't told him what the spikes contained and Niklas hadn't asked, he'd just accepted them when Erik told him that they might come in handy. He did know that they were hollow and contained a gas-driven propellant that fired some sort of liquid into the unfortunate victim they struck. The liquid could be anything from poison to acid, anything at all that the perverted mind of his cousin could come up with. But whatever it was, it sure was efficient. If he'd known how efficient they were, he might even had tried one against Creed.  
  
Niklas took the time to place a proximity mine on the wall, but didn't activate it. If he needed to escape later, he could activate it on his way out. The three-second delay would allow him to get out of its range, then it'd blow up as soon as a possible follower came within two meters of it. He regretted the loss of explosive power, but it might just very well be more useful here then among the computers he planned to blow up.  
  
He sighed and consulted the blueprints again, he couldn't recall what way he had been going any longer. But according to the blueprints, Sinisters main research lab was just a little way up ahead. The corridor looked familiar, but so had most of them. He wasn't sure, but he thought he might be going in the correct direction. He silently cursed the incorrect blueprints, things would have been so much simpler if they had been completely accurate. He shrugged, there was no use complaining about that now, there was still work left to do. He set out down the corridor, deciding to trust the blueprints and hope that they were correct.  
  
He encountered five more Scalphunter, two Harpoon and three Vertigo clones, but disposed of them without any major problems. He did find himself out of the handy little spikes when he was through. It might have been easier and safer to just let them be, but he had to clear the way for Erik's team. He didn't doubt that they were good, Erik only hired and trained the very best, but he doubted that they were ready to come up against an army of Marauders.  
  
He didn't find any more Creed's and that worried him. While Scalphunter, Harpoon and Vertigo did have the advantage of ranged attacks, Sabretooth easily outclassed all of them. Arclight, Blockbuster, Prism and Riptide were also dangerous, but Creed outclassed them as well. Scrambler was a threat to Niklas himself, but the guys Erik had sent were all humans, so he wasn't much of a threat to them. But Creed was a whole different story, capable of shrugging off the results of most ordinary ranged weaponry and skilled enough to wade through a large group of trained martial artists.  
  


* * *

  
Franklin McCain removed his backpack and shoved it in between two large crates, then swiftly pushed another crate in front of the gap. He pulled away a pouch from his belt, then swiftly poured out the fake dust from the bag. Quickly hiding all tracks that the crates ever had been moved. He quickly looked at his work, there was no way he could hide that he had been in here, because his footprints were clearly visible. But nobody could tell that the crates had been moved.  
  
He quickly slipped out of the storage room, closed the door and retraced his footsteps back through the corridor. He glanced down at the motion sensor strapped to his left arm and blinked, someone was approaching him from behind. He spun around, went down to his knees and drew his twin Browning HP's in one smooth motion. The man stalking him turned out to be another one of those large clones of Sabretooth. Franklin didn't hesitate for a moment, he just emptied both clips into his bulky opponent. He aimed for kneecaps, elbows, feet and then at the head. The surprised Sabretooth fell onto his knees, unable to stay upright and unable to break his fall with his arms, then several bullets dug into his head and put him out of commission.  
  
Franklin quickly reloaded the silenced pistols and slipped them back into their holsters. He then walked over to his opponent, placed his left hand underneath his opponents throat. Then pulled out the nail on his left thumb. That revealed that the nail was fake and attached to a very thin string. The string was so thin that it wouldn't even have been visible to the naked eye if it weren't for the fact that it was glowing. Electricity was directed through it, in order to make the user aware of where it was at. Franklin pulled and the string went through Creed's neck without meeting any resistance whatsoever. Franklin kicked the head away from the body, then replaced his nail. Once again hiding the molecule-thick garrote in his left thumb.  
  
The string was only one molecule thick, so thin that it could slice through almost anything except Adamantium and Kalcedon. It was horribly expensive to make, so Franklin felt privileged that he had been equipped with one. But as one of Eriks favorites, he'd always been somewhat privileged compared to his colleagues.  
  


* * *

  
Vanya Leonisky smirked as no less then three Scalphunters walked by underneath her. Mister Sinister must have brought his entire supply out of cryosleep. She waited until the first two passed, then she released her hold on the walls and allowed herself to fall.  
  
She landed on the shoulders of the third Scalphunter, slammed the palms of her hands together with his head in the middle. The impulse amplifiers, powerful servos and the drugs she'd been taking for almost two years added up, making her at least ten times stronger then any ordinary human. The head exploded, covering both her and the backs of the two other Scalphunters in front of her with yucky goo.  
  
They spun around, weapons in hand, but she was faster. Aided by the Impulse amplifiers, her arms moved quicker then what should be humanly possible. The two silenced Ruger GP100 revolvers spat out their deadly load at the Scalphunters who fell back without even having been able to fire a single round at their attacker. Vanya smirked and dried off her hands on her pants, then reloaded her two revolvers. She'd already placed her backpack underneath a bed in what appeared to be quarters for clones that had been brought out of cryogenic hibernation. Now she just had to get back to the entrance and wait for further orders.  
  


* * *

  
"Blockbuster? Catch." Charlie White told the enormous mutant in the corridor ahead of him, then threw his grenade and dove around a corner for protection. He'd already heard gunfire and blasts from other parts of the complex, so he assumed that they were free to use a little more obvious means now. He'd thrown his backpack behind what appeared to be some sort of recycling machine. Probably something that recycled urine into drinkable water or something like that. He'd never been any good at mechanical devices.  
  
+frtz+  
  
He didn't even really know how those grenades worked, but he knew that that sound meant. It meant that the grenade had sucked in everything around it and compressed it into one single atom. If he remembered correctly, it was called 'implosion' or something like that. He wasn't very good at technical terms either. But he was good at killing and he knew that these grenades were good for that.  
  
+KAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM+  
  
The entire complex shook and Charlie was thrown up into the air as the ground vibrated violently. The corridor behind him turned into one huge wall of flames as the energy released by the implosion turned destructive. He got up onto his feet again and walked back, looking down the corridor at where Blockbuster had been standing. Everything within a two-meter radius from the grenade had been sucked into the implosion. Walls, ground, roof, air, dust and Blockbuster, everything turning into explosive energy.  
  


* * *

  
Manuel de Villa heard someone moving behind the door, so he stopped and waited in complete silence. When the door was opened, he shoved his Desert Eagle up between the eyes of his opponent, the squeezed the trigger without hesitation. The Vertigo clone never even had time to react before her brain was blown out through the back of her head. He threw a proximity grenade into the room, then closed the door behind him and kept on walking down the corridor.  
  
He came to another door, took a deep breath and then thew the door open. He quickly surveyed the small room, but didn't find anyone. He got out into the corridor and his eyes opened wide as he saw a Riptide turn a corner. He blinked and leaped back into the room, just in time to avoid a hailstorm of thrown objects flying down the corridor.  
  
He quickly looked over the room again, but there were no exits and nothing that would help him against this opponent. He kicked the door shut and locked it, then tried to recall the corridor. He closed his eyes as he fed the coordinates into the equipment on his back from the computer in his head. He didn't like to do this with his eyes open, especially not when he had no idea of where he'd wind up.  
  
+bzoing+  
  
He opened his eyes again and saw the back of Riptide as the deadly Marauder was heading for the room Manuel had entered just a few seconds ago. He raised his Desert Eagle and emptied the entire clip into the back of Riptides head and chest. He looked to his left and shuddered, his left shoulder was just a few millimeters from the wall. That was his least favorite thing about teleportation, if he used the wrong coordinates, he could wind up halfway into a wall or something. He'd seen people who had done things like that and didn't like to think about the horrible consequences.  
  
But the most scary thing he'd ever seen was when someone had tried to teleport into a space already occupied by someone else. Manuel felt his stomach heave violently, just by thinking about it. He absently reloaded his pistol and headed further down the corridor. According to the maps Erik had provided them with, just before the assault, the backup generators should be just a little further down this corridor. When he'd left his backpack with the explosive little surprises in it there, he could head back to the entrance and get back to his family, who thought he was a travelling salesman.  
  


* * *

  
"Oops, lost your gun?" Sabretooth asked after he'd slapped the Uzi away from the hands of Albert Braun. Albert cursed himself, he'd paid too much attention to the Sabretooth he'd already killed and never even noticed that another one had managed to sneak up behind him. Albert clenched his fists and glared at his much larger opponent.  
  
"I won't need it, not against scum like you." he replied bravely and spat at Creed who just laughed.  
  
"You've got guts." he commented, then grinned ferally. "Well, had." he amended and then leapt at Albert, slashing at his stomach. Albert quickly stepped back and activated the electronics in his hands before he grabbed Creed's right wrist in mid-slash.  
  
+brrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt+  
  
Creed roared in pain as thousands of volts surged into his body, then gurgled in surprise as Albert slashed with his right hand at Victor's throat. His nails had changed from ordinary looking nails into metallic claws that drew blood. A lot of blood.  
  
Creed stumbled back a few steps, confused and bleeding, but recovered almost instantly. But he didn't have time to do anything, because Albert held his clawed hands out against him and fired them. His hands detached themselves from his arms and shot into Creeds chest with a devastating amount of force. The thin strings attached to his hands and arms relayed what he wanted his hands to do. Creed screamed in agony as Albert made his hands clench.  
  
Both Creed's lungs and his heart were punctured, then Albert electrocuted him again. Creed gurgled one last time, then fell backwards and thudded into the ground. Albert calmly unclenched his hands and reeled them back with the engines inside his quite human-looking arms. He quickly adjusted his hands until they were aligned correctly, then he picked up his Uzi and headed back towards the entrance to this underground complex. Once again keeping an eye open for any more of Sinisters cloned servants.  
  


* * *

  
Niklas waited until she was right beside him, then he stuck and struck hard. The first punch hit her throat, the following uppercut slammed right into her lower chest and the expertly executed legsweep threw her off her feet. As she fell to the ground, his leg whipped out again and slammed into the side of her head just before she hit the floor. Once she'd 'thump':ed onto the floor, she was already out cold. He frowned and hesitated, looking down at the motionless body.  
  
*/Kill her!/* the Beast spoke up. */Kill her./* it suggested, making Niklas himself shudder with revulsion as he realized that he had been thinking that very same thing himself. He didn't like it when the Beast agreed with him, that just showed how far from his old self he'd gotten. He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked down at the unconscious Arclight.  
  
When she wasn't conscious, her stern expression and harsh demeanor were nowhere in sight. Now, she looked at peace, her feminine features were more clearly visible and for a brief moment, he wondered how he ever could have considered ending her life. Then he recalled reading about the mutant massacre and stomped down on her chest before he had time to change his mind. */Yes!/* the Beast cheered as he stomped down a few more times, listening to the crunching as bones were broken.  
  
He swallowed as he looked at the female corpse, but forced the contents of his stomach to remain contents. Something he found increasingly hard, since it apparently wanted nothing more then participating in a steam of projectile vomit directed against the nearest flat surface.  
  
He stepped away from her and moved along, what he hoped was the last door before he reached his goal was just a few meters up ahead. He sneaked up to it and took several deep breaths of air before he pulled out one of the MAC-10's with his left hand and grasped the ImpRay rifle with his right, making sure that it was still there. He exhaled about half of the contents in his lungs, then threw the door open and rushed inside.  
  
The computer connected to his brain swiftly analyzed the situation and the digital images overlapping the information his eyes saw provided a red halo around all threats, really making them stand out from everything else. He swung the MAC-10 from one side to the other, occasionally squeezing off a three-bullet burst as his right hand reached for the ImpRay rifle. When the submachinegun had completed the sweep, he brought it back and emptied the last bullets in the clip at the still standing Mister Sinister to no real avail.  
  
An Arclight, a Scrambler, two Vertigo and one Harpoon clone were tossed back as bullets dug into their chests, crushing everything in their way until they exploded with brutal force, creating large craters in the chests they'd entered. Sinister barely seemed affected though, only three bullets actually penetrated his body armor, but they didn't seem to have any noticeable effect. The rest just bounced right off him.  
  
But before Sinister had time to react, the ImpRay rifle was pointed at him and Niklas squeezed off a beam at the same time as he put the MAC-10 back into it's holster. The rifle emitted a 'zkt' and a yellowish beam sizzled out at Mister Sinister, hitting him in the left shoulder. A bright flare erupted and after a weird 'frtz', everything within three centimeters of where the beam had struck imploded into a single atom.  
  
Sinister roared with the unexpected pain, but it was almost instantly drowned out by an explosion that knocked Sinister off his feet as the imploded molecules were converted into explosive energy. Niklas left hand moved to his back where he grabbed one of the mines, pressing it up against the wall beside the doorway. Then he tore the backpack off, shredding the straps with ease. He tossed it into the far end of the room and then fired another beam at Sinister, who had moved up into a sitting position.  
  
Sinisters shoulder was healing quickly, but the second beam struck him in the stomach. He gurgled as parts of his stomach just vanished and an explosion seared his wound before it had time to heal. The force of the blast made Sinister slide backwards, slamming his back against a large computer that went all the way from the floor up to the roof almost four meters up. Niklas quickly yanked out a net-grenade and tossed it at Sinister. The grenade landed right between Essex legs, then exploded, showering its surroundings with sticky webbing.  
  
The formula was partly based on Spiderman's net, but whereas Spiderman had made his net to dissolve slowly in order for it to evaporate after an hour or so, Erik hadn't. These net-grenades were made to put an enemy out of commission permanently. There were solutions that could dissolve the net, but most of them would dissolve some flesh from the one stuck in the net as well. But Niklas certainly had no plans of getting Sinister out of it anytime soon. Besides, Sinister had powers enough to get out on his own. But Niklas hoped that it would take him a while, enabling everyone to escape from the complex without having to worry about Sinister catching up.  
  
He turned around and ran, activating the mine at the door as he passed it. If Sinister somehow managed to get loose, the grenade would slow him down for a while longer. Niklas kept on removing mines from the strappings, activating them and them pressing them up against the walls as he ran through the complex.  
  
"Evac!" he roared, transmitting his order over the radio to the team who'd came in after him. "Evac, now! Set everything off in two minutes." he added.  
  
+Roger.+ was the brief reply he got from the team leader. +Two minutes from now, get your about to be roasted chestnuts outta the fireplace.+ the leader ordered his team, then resumed radio silence.  
  
"Hello, kiddo." a clone of Creed snarled, but Niklas didn't have time to play with him. He just fired the last four bullets in his Beretta at Creeds legs, knocking him off his feet. A Vertigo appeared, but the empty pistol left his hands and struck her in the head before she had time to react.  
  
He moved into the shadows and once again turned invisible, silently praising the powers that be for his Cainite ability to move around unnoticed. Turning into a vampire did have plenty of drawbacks, but sometimes he did think that the advantages outnumbered the disadvantages. Not very often and never when he fed, but sometimes he did feel grateful for his transformation.  
  
He activated the proximity mine as he ran past it and exhaled in relief as he reached the hatch, just as two black-clad men made their way up with a third watching their backs. Niklas ran up beside him, then became visible again just as he skidded to a stop.  
  
"Don't get nervous, I'm Hawk." he introduced himself and found himself looking down the barrel of a Colt Python before he even saw the man move. The well-trained assassin still held the assault rifle steady with one hand and divided his attention between the corridor leading up to the hatch, Niklas and the men climbing up.  
  
"If you are, you should know what else it takes." he calmly stated and Niklas nodded.  
  
"Omega Delta Alfa Beta. Sinister deeds never go unpunished." Niklas said and then man holstered the revolver and then moved the free hand down to his assault rifle again.  
  
"Good enough, sir. Get up." he ordered and Niklas nodded, jumping up to the building above.  
  
"We're up, shake a leg." Niklas ordered and turned to five surprised assassins who all had their guns pointed at him. "Omega Delta Alfa Beta. Sinister deeds never go unpunished." Niklas identified himself and helped the last man up. "Head for your chopper, we're through here." he ordered.  
  
"What about you, sir?" the last man up asked as the well-trained troopers left the room, turning around before he exited.  
  
"I'll be long gone before you even reach the chopper." he replied, then combined his own power with Rogues, flying out through the roof. Once he was out, he increased his speed and swiftly discarded his own body so he wouldn't overexert himself. Holding on to one set of powers, memories and skills was hard enough, two was a nightmare and three could put him in bed for a week to recover.  
  
He was a few thousand meters above ground when the blast came, he looked down and smiled in satisfaction as he saw a black-painted chopper leaving the area. The building had been razed completely, the ground had caved in and a lot of smoke was billowing out from hidden ventilation shafts. Niklas grinned, he'd ruined another set of clothes, spent a great deal of money, used up a whole lot of ammo and indebted himself to his cousin, but it was worth it. Sinisters nasty little complex was completely wrecked and the blast would draw the attention of local authorities. Sinister would have to find someplace else to hole up in, his attention would be directed at that instead of Penance, Salkin and Niklas himself.  
  
If Sinister wasn't focusing on Penance, he wouldn't come across Jubilee. If he didn't come across Jubilee, she wouldn't die. If she didn't die, he wouldn't have to resurrect her and she wouldn't turn into a dark Phoenix. If she didn't turn into Dark Jubilation, a planet wouldn't be torn apart and a sizable part of the Shi'ar fleet would remain intact.  
  
He exhaled with relief, he hadn't been kidding when he told Ororo that this was important. At the thought of Ororo, he shuddered. He would still have to explain all this to her, probably to Xavier and Scott as well. They would not approve. They probably would agree that stopping Sinister had been necessary, but they wouldn't approve of the way he had done it.  
  
He sighed and considered the information he had pulled out of Sinisters computers before he unleashed his devious digital assault. There was a lot of information about mutants in general and Sinister had also done his homework on the Legacy virus. The doctors would find this information very interesting and it probably would be a great help with the Legacy research conducted at the mansion and Muir Isle. Sinisters information on mutants would also make a good addition to the Cerebro mutant database, there were mutants in Sinisters files that never had shown up on Cerebro.  
  
There was also a lot of information about clones, information that might be able to help stop the degeneration Joseph was suffering from. While Niklas didn't think it was possible to cure it, it should be possible to at least halt its progress somewhat. The information also revealed that none of the Marauders the X-men had faced had been the real ones, all they had ever faced were Sinisters clones. Among the information was also their current locations, causing Niklas to smile faintly for a split second. He knew that at least Logan would be interested to find out just where the real Sabretooth was holed up at the moment.  
  
He slowed his ascension down to a crawl, combined Rogue's body with Illyana's powers, then created a stepping disc that he flew into, emerging in Limbo. Once there, he dropped Rogue entirely and turned into Illyana, then created another stepping disc that took him to the hotel room in Seattle where he once again morphed back to his own body.  
  
He brought out the armored suitcase, tossed everything he probably wouldn't need into it and quickly undressed. A quick shower later, he emerged from the bathroom and jumped into a fresh set of clothes he'd brought along. He once again opened the suitcase and equipped a shoulder holster where he placed one of the Beretta 92F's, his favorite weapon. After some brief hesitation, he also scrounged up a fresh clip for the H&K MP5 and laid that out on the bed. He also strapped a knife to his left forearm, just in case. When that was done, he closed the suitcase and shrugged into a trenchcoat, fastening the MP5 to a sturdy string suspended from the right shoulder of his trenchcoat.  
  
Once again morphing into Illyana, he picked up the suitcase and soon found himself standing in his room back at the mansion where he pushed the suitcase underneath his bed, then walked into a stepping disc. Just seconds later, Niklas stepped out of another one and reassumed his own body, just in time to see a stone hit Ororo in the back of her head, causing her to loose her concentration and crash against a container filled with reeking garbage.  
  
The stepping disc from Limbo had taken him to the streets of Philadelphia, or rather one of it's many back alleys, where a small group of people wearing FoH baseball caps and T-shirts somehow had managed to corner Ororo. As he saw a girl curled up in a fetal position further into the alley, a distinctly blue hue to her skin, he managed to guess just how Ororo had gotten involved. Since the howling fanatics were now closing in on the helpless Ororo, who still hadn't recovered from the stone or the crash, he grabbed his MP5 and raised it against the rabid humans who hadn't noticed his arrival, flipping the safety off with a grim look on his face.  
  
+tackatackatackatackatackatac+  
  
The sound of automatic gunfire echoed through the alley.  
  


* * *

  
The front rows of the crowd jumped back in shock as automatic fire tore up the ground in front of them, denying them access to their goal and startling Ororo out of her shocked daze.  
  
"The first one who moves is dead." a quiet and emotionless voice stated, a voice that despite it's odd calmness none the less managed to carry to everyone in the little mob in front of the shocked mutant. She moved her gaze aside and spotted someone she very much would like to talk to, even if she was seeing two of him at the moment. He pulled out his wallet and displayed FBI identification and badge with what seemed like a practiced movement. "Tom Arnold Hawk, FBI." he identified himself.  
  
"What?! Ni..." Ororo began, but both images of Niklas yanked pistols out of holsters and aimed them at her.  
  
"Silence, mutant!" he roared and divided his attention between her and the crowd. "All of you idiots, get the hell out of here. This mutant is as of now under the jurisdiction of the Mutant Affairs division." Niklas said, his voice laden with the promise of violence if he wasn't obeyed.  
  
"But she can..." one of them begun, trying to protest.  
  
+tackatackatac+  
  
A quick burst of automatic fire aimed at a spot right in front of his feet shut the protesting man up pretty quickly. Then Niklas glared at the crowd over the rim of his large black sunglasses.  
  
"Get the *hell* out of here. Go home, because if I see you morons roaming the streets when I return, I'll have you all charged with assault and attempted murder." he snapped, his red eyes scaring them into action. The front rows turned around and fled, pushing their comrades out of the way.  
  
Niklas holstered his Beretta and let the MP5 hang suspended from a string attached to the shoulder of his trenchcoat. He quickly walked up to Ororo and winced as he looked at the back of her head despite her feeble attempt to prevent him from doing so. She was feeling more steady by the minute and noticed that as he moved closer, the two images of him merged into one. At a distance, she was still seeing double, but up close, her vision was normal.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked as he pushed hair out of the way to get a better look at her injury. "I'm afraid Hank and Cecilia are going to have to bring out the needle and thread." he said before she had time to reply to his question.  
  
"I'll be alright, I'm just a little dizzy." she replied slowly, not above a little white lie on occasion. "What are you doing here and what was that about the FBI?" she demanded to know, glaring intently at him as he moved back and looked straight at her face, cradling her head with his large, strong and intensely gentle hands.  
  
"Fake ID." he replied quickly, perhaps a little too quickly and then opened her left eye a little wider, pushing at her eyebrow with his thumb. He peered intently at her eyes over the rim of his sunglasses and ignored the hands that tried to slap his away. "You've probably got a concussion." he concluded and she found herself desperately trying to ignore the fluttering of her stomach as those gentle eyes seemed to gaze straight into her soul.  
  
"Help me get up, I need to know how the others are doing." she ordered. Niklas hesitated, but after she glared at him for a few moments, he obeyed. He hoisted her up onto her feet, then slung her left arm over his shoulders and supported her with his right arm around her waist. "Stop that." she admonished him and pushed him away so she could stand on her own. "I'm fine." she insisted, doing her best to ignore the conflicting feelings she was feeling at the moment. While her independent streak refused to accept any help she didn't really need, she found a tiny piece of herself wish that he'd just sweep her up in his strong arms and never let her go.  
  
"Sure. Fine. Whatever." he replied in a flippant manner, even if the intensity of his gaze revealed his manner as a complete lie. "But I'm sticking close to you. If I don't think you can handle it, you're going back to the mansion." he added, allowing his concern for her to show through his flippant appearance.  
  
"Deal." she replied, then lifted them both up into the air, taking them up above the buildings around them. "Did you finish what you needed to do?" she asked as they both looked down, trying to find the others. Her distance vision was still a little blurry, but it got better by the second and she soon spotted Logan in the middle of a tangle with a roaring mob. She instantly took them both into a dive, heading closer to the huge brawl.  
  
"Yes." he replied. "I did." he added after gulping down some air, apparently still not quite used to flying when somebody else was holding the reins. Her vision was on the mend and she could make out the fact that Logan still hadn't extended his claws just yet, but his bare hands and feet did more then enough damage anyway. A lot of Creed-sympathizers would wind up in a hospital, or with noticeable reminders of the dangers brought on by tangling with mutants. She saw Niklas reach for his MP5, but a glare from her made him move his hands away from it. The man was *far* to quick to fall back upon firearms for Ororo's taste.  
  
Then she unleashed her powers, a gust of wind from out of nowhere suddenly threw people off their feet. Rain poured down, making the ground slippery enough for her winds to slide them away. Logan had reacted instantly, extending his claws and shoving them down into the ground, anchoring himself to the spot. When the winds calmed down, he stood up again and another wind carried him up towards the two of them.  
  
"Appreciated that, 'Ro." he thanked her, glared at Niklas for a few moments, then looked back at Ororo again. "How are the others doin'?"  
  
"We're trying to find out." she replied, then took them up high again. Niklas swiftly turned into Jean and started using her mental powers to track their teammates down.  
  
"Remy has pulled back, he can't use his powers against opponents like this and he didn't want to agitate them further by trying to fight them." he said and glanced disapprovingly at Logan who merely shrugged and caused Ororo to wonder about the double standards Niklas displayed. While he apparently thought nothing of his own threats and use of firearms, he had the galls to berate Logan for fighting the Friends of Humanity?  
  
"Rogue is leading her followers around, making them tired. Joseph used his powers to tie up his group, they're unharmed, but unable to move. Elisabeth used her powers to put her group to sleep, now she's amusing herself by leading another group around the block. Making them think that they're following some defenseless mutants. They'll soon run themselves exhausted." Niklas added.  
  
"I think it's time to break up this party." Ororo announced, then it suddenly became apparent to the others what she meant, as dark clouds gathered over the entire city. Then it was as if heaven had suddenly opened its gates, the rain was relentless as it pounded down upon the city. "Tell the others to pull back, get out of harms way. Without any mutants to chase, they mobs will break up and they'll go back home to dry themselves off." she ordered and Niklas did as she said, then used Jeans telekinetic powers to create an umbrella for them, protecting them from the downpour.  
  


* * *

  
"Now, how about that explanation?" Ororo suddenly said and winced as they emerged from a large stepping disc that had taken them to the mansion recreation room. The brief stop in Limbo probably hadn't done her any good, Niklas knew from experience that wounds would inevitably become infected or somehow made worse just by being in Limbo. The same was probably true of her concussion.  
  
"After Henry and Cecilia has stitched you up." he replied, unwilling to unload anything heavy on her while she still had a visit to the medilab to look forward to. The others scattered, leaving the two of them alone as Niklas set off for the X-men's medicinal facilities, Ororo walking on his right side.  
  
"Just tell me." she insisted and he resigned himself to the fact that he would have to give her the short version now and go into more detail later on. Well aware of the fact that the long version would make her see him in a better light then the short one would. But that couldn't be helped, he owed it to her to spill the beans.  
  
"Well, in order to prevent Mister Sinister from killing Jubilee and kidnapping Penance, I raided his nifty little hideout outside of Seattle. We went in, planted some explosives, tossed a netgrenade at him and then got the hell out of there before we set the charges off. It's now in ruins, Sinister has got things to think of and it'll probably take a while for him to become curious about Penance." Niklas calmly replied, then swiftly moved to support Ororo as she appeared to falter, her strength abandoning her for a split second.  
  
"We?" she inquired and swatted his hands away, maintaining her position of strength by a supreme effort of will, rather then any hidden reserves of strength that her body possessed. Certainly not willing to appear to be the weaker one, not while she was questioning him, she pulled upon her iron will to remain upright and conscious.  
  
"I hired a team of mercenaries to assist me and to place explosives in the areas of the complex I wouldn't be passing through on my way towards Sinister." he replied.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us?" she demanded to know. "If we knew where Sinister was hiding out, we could have went in there to apprehend him *and* laid our hands on his research data." she explained, then glared reproachfully at him.  
  
"I already have the data, getting that was one of the first things I did." Niklas defended himself. "I got the data, destroyed Sinisters complex and none of you were hurt in the process. All in all, a pretty good deal. At least the way I look at things." he added.  
  
She shook her head in disbelief, stared quietly at him for a few moments. Then she sighed.  
  
"This could get you kicked off the team." she said. "Charles will not approve, Scott might have approved if you'd come to us with this information first, but he will go with Charles in this." she explained. "I'm... Still undecided." she admitted. "I will have that full report, but first I think I really *do* need those stitches and perhaps some painkillers." she added, finally admitting to both him and herself that she wasn't okay.  
  
Niklas looked at her, worry evident in his eyes as he contemplated scooping her up in his arms so he could take her to the medilab at a run. His own injuries were one thing, he could judge them and he knew how serious they were. It was something entirely different with the injuries of others, he knew that if he put up a brave front to avoid worrying others, they probably did as well. So just because she seemed to be fine, just a little dizzy, didn't mean that she really was okay. He put his right arm around her and ignored her protests as she tried to push him away.  
  
"I'm at least three times as strong as you are, Ororo." he informed her and tried to keep the smug tone out of his voice. "Push all you want."  
  
"You're hopeless." she grumbled and resigned herself to the situation, leaning a little on him, once it became apparent that he wouldn't let her cope on her own.  
  
"Well, remember that for me it wasn't that long since I shared a bed with 'you', so you'll have to forgive me if I seem a little bit overprotective at times." he advised. Causing her to frown as he reminded her of the events that had transpired in the fantasy world he'd only recently returned from.  
  
"You still haven't told me much about that." she grumbled. "But I really don't think I need to know either. The entire subject depresses me."  
  
"Oh, flattery." he exclaimed mockingly. "I'm touched." he added, his voice dripping with sarcasm, but the smile on his lips and the gleam in his eyes revealed that he wasn't offended.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that." she protested. "I was just... Well... I wouldn't have thought that I was ready for a relationship." she tried to explain, but clamed up once she realized that she wasn't in any state to start a conversation about personal stuff. The Goddess only knew what she might reveal while under the influence of a concussion.  
  
"Still torn up over Forge, huh?" he asked, then shrugged when she didn't reply. "Well, that'll pass. Although the fact that you were influenced by my eyes probably helped quite a lot with that." he added, a sour twist on his lips.  
  
"You... Used your power on me?" she asked. "That's how we wound up in bed together?"  
  
"No." he replied and stopped right outside the door to the medilab, he didn't want rumor of this conversation spread, so he delayed their entrance for a while. "You had been affected by my eyes earlier, that probably helped you to get over Forge. But the effects had faded by the time we wound up in that oddball dimension and faded completely by the time you suddenly decided to crawl into my bed while I was sleeping." he added, a wistful smile on his lips as he vividly recalled waking up that morning.  
  
"Ugh, I really did that?" she asked, a faint blush darkening her cheeks even further. "Are you *certain* that I wasn't affected by your eyes at the time?"  
  
"Completely certain and yes, you did." he replied. "But if the entire subject doesn't make you want to hurl, we can talk about that later. For now, I think you'd better let our resident doctors have a look at you and get the needle'n thread out."  
  
"Wonderful..." Ororo mumbled with a disgruntled look on her face as he opened the door and led her into the medilab.  
  


* * *

  
"He did act with reckless abandon, without thinking of the possible consequences." Scott said, pacing back and forth in front of Ororo's bed, making her vision wobble as she tried to follow his movements. "I can't fault his reasoning, although I don't agree with his conclusion or the way he choose to handle the situation." he added, then shrugged. "But I almost never agree with the way Logan choose to handle the situations he winds up in when he goes off on his own either." he uncharacteristically added. "Although I can't support his actions, I hardly think they warrant kicking him off the team. If we did that, we couldn't very well keep either Logan or Remy in the team."  
  
"I agree." Ororo stated firmly, although she did have to take a moment to question her own motives in wanting to keep him around. He was easy to trust, perhaps too easy. Part of it was due to his weird powers, but she didn't think it depended just on those either. There just was something about him that made him seem harmless and trustworthy, even when she knew how callous and violent he could act when it suited him. "His actions are not enough to kick him off the team, although perhaps he should be assigned a sitter again?"  
  
"What good would that do?" Scott asked. "We've tried that before. His behavior when watched is exemplary, it's his behavior when he isn't watched that I don't approve of."  
  
"Then what do you suggest?" Charles suddenly asked, having been uncharacteristically silent for the better part of their discussion.  
  
"Nathan have displayed a certain amount of interest in him." Scott commented neutrally. "Perhaps he would be better suited as a member of X-Force."  
  
"I disagree." Charles stated. "While he's certainly sympathetic to their beliefs and actions, I fear that transferring him to X-Force wouldn't accomplish anything worthwhile. Chances are that he'd both be corrupted and corrupt at the same time, influencing and being influenced by X-Force. Both of them are bad enough on their own, I don't believe that anything good could come out of that union." he explained, outlining his reasoning for the others.  
  
"What of it then?" Ororo asked. "What are we to do about what he did?"  
  
"There is another thing we must consider." Scott said and smiled sheepishly as he pulled out his wallet and removed a yellow post-it from within. "When I first heard of his powers, I wrote this as a reminder to myself and pasted it to the door of the boathouse." he explained and put it back into the wallet. "It's a reminder to me to actively disbelieve everything I feel and think about him. After all, one of his powers is to make everyone around trust him, like him. There's no way of telling if our reasoning now is influenced by that power or not, if we're treating him any different then we would if he didn't have it." he added, causing the others to pause for a moment.  
  
"I... I would like to claim that I'm completely neutral, that I'm looking at the entire situation in an objective manner." Ororo stated hesitantly. "But I'm afraid that I can't." she admitted with a rueful shrug of her shoulders. "My instinctive reaction is that what he did is no worse then what Logan or Remy sometimes does when other X-men aren't there to influence their actions." she said and frowned. "But I'm not entirely sure that my mind is unclouded and unaffected by my personal feelings in the matter."  
  
"Likewise." Scott agreed. "My first thought on the matter is that although I find the act itself wrong, I can't help but to think of other instances where other members of our select group have acted equally wrong. An assault upon Sinister and Marauders is actually less wrong then some other acts that comes to mind."  
  
"Henry believes that the information retrieved from Sinister advanced our Legacy research by several months, providing several details that he hadn't even thought to consider before." Charles stated. "He hasn't had time to completely evaluate some of the other information, but he did agree with Niklas guess that the research on clones might be able to arrest the continuing degeneration of Joseph's cellular structure." he added.  
  
"Look at us." Ororo suggested with a wry chuckle and the other two looked strangely at her. "We can't even discuss a suitable punishment for him without defending his actions. He doesn't need to speak up in his defense, because we're doing it for him." she explained, causing the other two to seriously consider her words in silence for a few moments.  
  
"I think that perhaps all of us should write little reminders to ourselves, just to make sure that we take both a second and a third look at all our personal opinions about him." Charles commented with a serious look on his face. "Perhaps re-evaluate everything that transpired before today and also re-examine our actions to those events." he added as a thought struck him.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ororo asked.  
  
"We allowed him to join the X-men. He brought back someone he claims is Illyana Rasputin, but can we be really certain of that? She refuses to allow me to mentally probe her to see if she is all right, but perhaps she refuses because I might discover that she's not who she claims to be?" Charles suggested. "I know Cecilia Reyes, I have even met her before. But, the Cecilia Reyes that I met would never have agreed to join our select group. She steadfastly refused when I suggested it, she didn't want anything at all to do with my dream or indeed any mutants. She just wanted to be a doctor and ignore the fact that she herself is a mutant until the day she died. She could also be a dupe, a facsimile of the real woman. The same goes for Rachel Summers."  
  
"Why would he place false mutants within our groups?" Scott questioned.  
  
"Setting us up for a possible betrayal? Planning a 'real' treason against us?" Ororo suggested. "When he appeared in Philadelphia, he pulled out FBI identification and badge that identified him as 'Tom Arnold Hawk of the Mutant Affairs division'. He claimed it was a fake one." she added.  
  
"Tom Arnold Hawk... Tom A Hawk... Tomahawk..." Scott muttered and smiled for a split second before his face turned serious again. "I'll tell Sean to ask around, his old friends might be able to tell us something. If he is pulling our collective legs, I'd like to know about it before he sell us all out."  
  
"I still have a few friends in high places." Charles claimed. "I'll see if they can dig up something. If Mutant Affairs truly have managed to infiltrate us, we might have committed the worst mistake of our lives."  
  
"We can't let him know that we might be on to something." Scott said. "We have to act as if nothing is out of the ordinary until we know for sure."  
  
"What of his recent actions?" Ororo asked. "What are we going to do about it?"  
  
"I'll have a word with him, give him a stern talking to." Charles decided. "I've thought this over and I think we were objective when we reached the conclusion that what he did wasn't as bad as some of the things other members of the X-men have committed. I'll talk with him, just as I did with them."  
  
"In the case of your little 'talks', I think 'talk *to*', might be a better phrase then 'talk with'." Scott gently chided his friend and mentor.  
  
"It's decided then." Charles stated and waited for a protest from one or the other of his former students, a protest that never came. "I might just as well get it over with." he reasoned and reached out to put his right hand over Ororo's both, resting above the covers on her stomach. "Get better, Ororo." he ordered her and squeezed her hands for a moment, before he pulled his hand back and hovered away on his hovering wheelchair.  
  
"Yes, sir." Ororo mockingly replied with a wide smile before he was out of hearing range.  
  
"Make sure that you do, Ororo. That's an order." Scott said and repeated the professors gesture, squeezing her hands before he departed.  
  
"I will, Scott." she replied and when he was out of range, she repeated the phrase with a softer tone of voice, an almost wistful nuance creeping into it.  
  


* * *

  
"Incredible." Niklas said once he was back in his room. "Simply incredible." he added as he paced back and forth, trying to come up with a reason why there hadn't been more serious consequences for his actions. He had expected to wind up with 'babysitters' again, be confined to the mansion, put off active duty or punished in some other more or less creative way. But other then a very unpleasant conversation with Charles, he'd been let off the hook. /Well, conversation is hardly the word for it./ he mentally amended. /More of a monologue./ he added.  
  
"Yeah, I know." Cipi agreed and he jumped slightly as he noticed the three fairies, once again the small creatures he was used to. They were hanging out on his desk and had apparently managed to turn his computer on. He blinked with astonishment as he realized that they were playing 'Wolfenstein' and that they were very good at it. Cipi was playing at the moment, blasting away Nazi after Nazi on a level that he didn't recognize.  
  
"Tipi beat your highscore, but I think Cipi is going to top that!" Sipi exclaimed cheerfully, standing behind her sister, clapping her hands in encouragement.  
  
"You distracted me!!" Tipi yelled. "Who can play when you're clapping your hands like that?" she questioned with an annoyed look on her face.  
  
"How did you manage to bypass security?" Niklas suddenly inquired as he realized that the fairies shouldn't know the various passwords required to operate his computer. It took no less then five different passwords to get the computer going after it had been turned off and he knew for a fact that it had been turned off when he left the room.  
  
"Die, Nazi! Die!" Cipi exclaimed, pretending that she hadn't heard him.  
  
"Ehhh, Tipi did it!" Sipi blurted out, blaming it all on her sister.  
  
"There might have been some magic involved." Tipi hesitantly admitted, scraping her feet and looking down to avoid meeting his gaze.  
  
"Christ, it's like dealing with children..." Niklas muttered venomously. "Do not, I repeat, do *NOT*, use any magic whatsoever on my computer. The Gods only know what sort of side-effects that might have." he admonished the once again tiny creatures. "If you want to play 'Wolfenstein', cruise the Internet for porn or whatever, ask first!"  
  
"What's 'porn'?" Cipi asked. "Oh, don't bother." she added with a disgusted tone of voice.  
  
"Yurgh, more of that filth!" Sipi exclaimed and he realized that they'd picked the information straight out of his mind as soon as they asked.  
  
"You humans have a very single-tracked mind." Tipi stated. "Are you people even aware of how often you're thinking about these things yourselves?" she asked.  
  
"According to recent research, no." Niklas replied. "From what I've heard, we do it almost all the time." he added, then decided that he really didn't want to get into a conversation on that particular topic with the fairies. "Well, since you're here, you might as well help me out." he decided.  
  
"Sure!" Cipi exclaimed. "With what?"  
  
"Yeah! What can we do?!" Sipi inquired.  
  
"Does it involve 'porn'?" Tipi asked with a suspicious tone in her voice.  
  
"I thought that I might practice some with my magic powers." Niklas confided. "There's hardly any use for most of the spells I know, but since I've gone through all the effort of learning them, I might just as well try to keep that knowledge alive." he explained. "I want the three of you to watch and let me know if I'm doing anything wrong. Can you do that for me?" he asked.  
  
"We'd love to." Cipi replied.  
  
"Yeah! We're good at magic!" Sipi exclaimed.  
  
"Are you sure that this has nothing to do with 'porn'?" Tipi inquired.  
  
"Quite certain." he stated firmly and removed a wilted flower from a loophole in his belt, putting it down on his desk. He was once again puzzled by the odd gift, but tried not to ponder upon it. While he waited for Charles, Ororo and Scott to come to a decision, he'd visited Rachel since he feared that he might just possibly be grounded. After returning from that visit, he went to see Illyana.  
  
When he left, she gave him the wilted flower. It's current state made it hard to tell, but he thought it might be the flower known as the 'Crusaders sword'. He hadn't even been aware of the fact that it grew here in the states, but with her power, she could have gotten it from anywhere in the world. The blood-red flower was wilted, obviously long since dead and he still hadn't been able to figure out why she had given it to him.  
  
He knew that being locked up in Limbo, being the prisoner of a hellish fiend more terrible then any demon Limbo had ever seen before, hadn't been pleasant and that none could walk away from an experience like that unchanged. From the little he knew, Illyana couldn't be described as mentally stable even before her latest ordeal, but it had gotten worse now. The flower was just added confirmation.  
  
She'd obviously gone through great lengths to procure it, even if it was native to the united states, it obviously wouldn't have been around in these parts now, in the dead of winter. So she must have used her stepping discs to get to wherever it was she had found it, brought it back and then given it to him. He shrugged, perhaps it would come to him later.  
  
"First I thought I'd try 'Gamesh shield against the elements'." he announced and tried to remember the spell. The spell was meant to provide protection from the elements, enabling someone affected by it to endure great temperature variations, extreme weather and other sources of injuries caused by nature. Someone affected by it could walk naked across Antarctica, provided the spell was renewed and that there was food and water, protected from the temperature. It didn't work against fire or magical creations. So a magical decrease of temperature would still freeze someone protected by this spell, but being stuck in a meat freezer for a day wouldn't.  
  
He spoke the words that went with this particular spell out loud and clearly, so the fairies could correct his pronunciation if it wasn't correct. He made the accompanying gestures as wide and clear as possible, for the very same reason. Messing things up was bad enough for a juggler or a secretary, but for someone who wielded magic powers, it could be disastrous, both for the wielder himself and the surrounding area.  
  
"Arawn, no!" all thee fairies cursed and shrieked with horror, but it was too late. He'd already started to channel one of the most powerful forces in the universe, pulling upon the very stuff of the Gods in order to accomplish the spells intended purpose. He had gone too far to stop, had so much power within himself that he had to release it, because holding it in could be even more destructive that releasing it and hoping for the best.  
  
As he released it, he knew why the fairies had been frightened, he had made a mistake. It was entirely possible that it wasn't even the words or the gestures, because he was pretty sure that they had been accurate. But magic wasn't all words and gestures, it was the state of mind, a will of iron and dogged determination. But even then, it was also heavily dependent on pure chance and chaos. Something was off and he had no idea what.  
  
Most often, that only led to a failed spell and some wasted magic power that would have to be restored with rest. But not now, not this time. This time there had been what his teachers used to call a 'false ignition', magic had been set into motion and for some reason just refused to merge with the constant stream of background magic that floated around the universe. This magic wouldn't go away, if it's wielder failed with it's intended purpose, it'd do something else.  
  
He felt the magic energy wrap itself around him, surrounding him, just as it would have if the spell had been successful. But instead of slowly sinking into his skin, merging with his body to absorb heat, cold, wind, moisture or whatever else that nature could throw at him, it was now directed outward, warping the reality around him.  
  
He felt as if everything was happening in slow motion, while his mind worked in hyperdrive. The fairies hadn't even completed their collective 'Arawn, no!' while all this was happening. Niklas opened his mouth to scream, but everything around him turned into white searing brightness before he had time to utter a single syllable and his mind faded away into nothingness...  
  
  
  


# THE END!

  
  



End file.
